Amalgamator



L. BRUNETTI Oct. 2l, 1952 AMALGAMATOR 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Jan. '27, 1948 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 21, 1952 BRUNETTl 2,614,693

AMALGAMATOR Filed Jan. 27, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 l. zvzzeZZL' INVENTOR ATTGRNFYS Patented Oct. 21, y1952 y UNITED .STATES PATENT AMALGAMATOR Leonello Brunetti, Mountain View, Calif.

Application January 27, 1948;'Serial'N4-,6l0

`1 invention .'.frelates fto improvements in amalgamators. f

An y.obj ecti-of the invention 'is tto :provide animproved amalgamatorf-construction 'for separating and .collecting .gold .from .'gold-'containing `fore pulp.

Another obj ect ofv the finvention is 'to provide an...impr'ovedramalgamator including. an felongated .troughfformed with: arbottom which slopes inwardlyia'nd downwardly from'itsfoppositeA ends to aficentral low point-connected by means of a valved fitting to a retort, and rotatable means in said trough for'separating 'thegold from the ore pulp fed into `the trough, combining the same with mercury contained .in Vthe lower portion of the trough for collecting the separated gold in a -pOts'upp''orted` vby-"andv connected with saidrretort, while the tailings are discharged fromtheoutletend of said trough.

A further object of the invention is to :provide an improved'construction of amalgamator Lcornprising an elongated separating* trough "having ana inwardly rand vdownwardly `sloping bottom taperingni-rom its oppositejends and connected with advalveecontrolled retort,-said troughrbeing .adapted to contain mercury -for separati-ng 1 gold vfrom thegold ore pulp fed into. one endpi.` the trough; andsaid trough being-adaptedto support various forms of single or dual power driven screws for pulverizing and separating gold from the tailings which will be discharged from the end of the trough remote from its feed or loading end.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of amalgamator which will include a separating trough, a retort, means for heating the retort for vaporizing the mercury contained therein, and a condenser for cooling the volatilized mercury and for discharging it back to the amalgamator trough.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved amalgamatcr which will be 'highly efficient in operation and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and produce.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View through the improved amalgamator.

y1 0mm. (ol. 209-205) Figure -2 'lis afsectionalfview takenpn'th'e line 2 2 yof Figure .1.

Figure Sis aitransverse sectionalvi'ew Ethrough the anialgamatorA trough :showing ltliefu'seof 'two separatingscrews of 'similarsize Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view'fthrough the amalgamator trough-showingltheuse 'offtwo separatingfscrews of' dissimilar size.

Figure 5 `is a transversesectional lview ithrough the .amalgamator trough showing `r.the useroffra single separating yscrew fand a acoop'eratin-g Fendt less-chainseparator.r

Like characters ofy reference tare `vused @through-- out the *following specifications the "accom-'- panying drawings to designate @corresponding parts.

In Tcarrying out the invention, .therejisgiprofvidedl an improved I'ama-lfgamator.havingianfelom gated substantially 'U-shaped' trough generally designated by the reference numeral'l :formed with v oppositely'disposed Vparallel side Walls'i2 :and 3, anda closed fendwwall '4. v'A feed-chute 511s supportedsadjacent :the closed-end :wall 4;.offfthe trough I-, while a downwardly extending'A discharge chute 5 is formed integrally withthes'opi ,posite'endof the :trough I. The bottom offthe trough I slopes inwardly and downwardly from its opposite ends, and supports an outlet pipe 8 at its lowermost point.

A valve 9 is connected with the lower end of the outlet pipe 8, and a section of pipe I0 is connected at its upper end to the valve 9, while the lower end of the pipe I0 is connected with the upper end of a cylindrical retort II. The upper end of the retort II is rounded as at I2, and the lower end of the retort II has a conical downwardly sloping closure I3, to which a. valve I4 is connected.

A round collecting pot I5 is connected with the valve I4 for receiving and collecting the gold when separated by the amalgamator. A threaded plug I6 is threaded into the lower end of the pot I5, and will be removed when the gold in the pot I5 is to be removed.

A pair of outwardly and upwardly extending pipes I'I and I8 are connected at their lower ends with the rounded upper end I2 of the retort II, and are connected at their upper ends with a condenser I9 disposed above the trough I and provided with an outlet 20, whereby the condensed mercury from the retort I I will automatically ow back into the trough I to ll the bottom thereof to the desired and proper level.

A coil of pipe 2l will be disposed about the retort II and will be connected with a suitable source of steam supply (not shown) for volatilizing the amalgam when let from the trough I through the valve 9 into the retort, to drive the vaporized mercury through the pipes I7 and I8 up into the condenser I9.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, there is shown a bearing 22 in the closed end wall 4 of the trough I, and a cooperating bearing`23 supported by the bracket 24 adjacent the outlet or discharge end of the trough l A spiral screw 25 of larger dimension at its center and tapering towards its opposite ends is rotatably supported in the bearings 22 and 23, and a pulley wheel 28 is secured to the end of the screw 25 exteriorly of the bearing 22 whereby the screw may be rotated by a belt and prime mover (not shown).

In Figure 3 of the drawings, there is shown a pair :of vertically disposed screws 21 and 28 of a similar size rotatably mounted in the trough I.

In Figure 4 of the drawings, there is shown a pair of vertically disposed screws 29 and 30 of large and small size being rotatably mounted in the trough I.

, In Figures and 6, there is shown a single screw 3| and a cooperating power driven movable chain 32 .having spaced depending cross members 33 mounted at the top of the trough I, whereby the screw 3| and cross member 33 will advance the ore pulp from the inlet end of the trough towards the outlet end thereof.

In operation, mercury 34 will be received in the bottom of the trough I, and ore pulp will be dumped into the inlet chute, to be stirred up and moved along the trough I, so that the gold will be separated therefrom by the mercury, while the tailings will be discharged from the discharge chute. The amalgam which is the mercury and gold will be let into the retort II when the valve 9 is opened, and after the mercury has been volatilized by the heat from the steam in the pipe coil 2i surrounding the retort Il and driven up into the condenser I9, the separated gold may be let into the pot I5 upon the opening of the lvalve I4.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that there has been devised and provided a highly eicient amalgamator.

While the preferred embodiment of the instant invention has been illustrated and described, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention thereto, as many minor changes in detail of construction may be resorted to without departure from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

An amalgamator comprising an elongated U- shaped trough having a bottom sloping inwardly and downwardly from its opposite ends to the center thereof, a feed chute at one end of said trough and a discharge chute at the opposite end thereof, feed means comprising a spiral feed screw disposed horizontally within said trough directly under the feed chute, onto which material from the chute is delivered, a retort connected with the lowest point of said bottom, heating means disposed about said retort, a condenser, pipes connected with opposite sides of the retort at the top thereof, said pipes extending above the trough, said pipes being connected with said condenser at opposite sides thereof above the trough through which vaporized mercury passes to said f condenser, and a pipe establishing communication between the condenser and trough whereby mercury in liquid form is delivered to the trough.

LEONELLO BRUNETTI. l

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 258,429 Jones May 23, 1882 340,874 Harbach Apr. 27, 1886 504,859 Boss Sept. 12, 1893 532,114 Tanner Jan. 8, 1895 967,158 Beaupre et al Aug. 16, 1910 965,704 McNeil Nov. 15, 1910 1,111,251 Dennison Sept. 22, 1914 1,113,065 Stringham Oct. 6, 1914 1,499,471 Peck et al. July 1, 1924 2,128,313 Myers Aug. 30, 1938 

